Source: Search Engine Roundtable by barry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz). Read the original article
TL;DR Summary of Avoid Using JavaScript to Show “Not Available” Content Before Loading Actual Page Data
Google’s John Mueller warns against using JavaScript to initially display “not available” text before loading real content, as this can cause indexing issues. If Googlebot sees the page as unavailable on first load, it may assume the page doesn’t exist and skip indexing. Instead, it’s best to dynamically load the entire content chunk via JavaScript without showing misleading placeholder text. This ensures Google properly crawls and indexes your content.
Optimixed’s Overview: Best Practices for JavaScript Content Loading to Ensure Google Indexing
Understanding the Impact of JavaScript on Search Engine Crawling
Google’s John Mueller recently addressed a common SEO pitfall where websites use JavaScript to initially display “not available” before replacing it with actual content. This approach can mislead Googlebot during crawling and indexing, resulting in pages being omitted from search results.
Key Recommendations to Avoid Indexing Problems
- Do not show placeholder text like “not available” via JavaScript before content loads. Google may interpret this as the page being down or non-existent.
- Instead, load the entire content chunk dynamically with JavaScript. This prevents confusing signals for Googlebot and improves indexing accuracy.
- Avoid changing critical meta tags (e.g., robots meta tag) from “noindex” to “index” with JavaScript. Google doesn’t recommend toggling indexing directives dynamically as it can cause unpredictable results.
Why This Matters for SEO
If Google encounters a page initially showing “not available,” it might decide not to index it, hurting your site’s visibility. Proper JavaScript handling ensures that Google perceives your content as intended and ranks your pages accordingly.
